The proposals will make using acoustic warning devices on ships in many parts of European seas mandatory. These ‘pingers’ emit a high-pitched sound to deter dolphins.

They will also restrict the length of driftnets used in the Baltic Sea to 2.5 km for an interim period and phase them out by 1 January 2007.

Thousands of dolphins are killed every year when they get tangled in huge driftnets intended to catch other sea creatures.

British Labour MEP Glyn Ford said: “In my own region, over 200 dolphins and porpoises were found dead around the coast in Devon and Cornwall between January and March this year. That is averaging two a day.”

Scientists predict some species, such as the harbour porpoise, could even become extinct in many EU waters by the end of the century if the problem is not addressed now.

An EU driftnet ban for the Atlantic came into force in 2002, and Ford said the Union is targeting one of the biggest problem areas by tackling the Baltic Sea.

The Commission will also insist on monitoring a sample of fishing trips to better establish the situation.

“By putting independent observers on a proportion of all fishing trips in certain areas we will get the data we need to work out the scale of the problem,” Ford said.

The draft proposals must be approved by member states and the European Parliament before becoming law, although MEPs are only given the right to be consulted in drafting legislation on fisheries policy.

“Finally, we have an end to the double standards which saw these indiscriminate nets being banned in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea but an exemption being made for the Baltic,” said Lesley O'Donnell, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Brussels office.

“However, it must be made clear that driftnets are not the only unselective fishing gear, thousands of porpoises are killed as bycatch throughout EU waters in bottom-set gillnets.”